I have some very exciting news… our little baby boy Milo arrived 2 weeks early all happy and healthy.
The birth came as a surprise as I was only 37+4 weeks pregnant when my waters broke on Tuesday night. After being checked over at the hospital they sent me home and told me to come back when I was having more frequent contractions. Meanwhile my husband was racing back from Italy where he had been working! No sign of labour by 8pm on Wednesday so I had to go into hospital for an augmentation.
After some complications with checking in they examined me and gave me a gel at around 10:30pm as I was only 1cm.
A few hours later after frequent painful contractions which were mainly in my back, probably due to baby being back to back at that stage, I had made no progress apart from a softened cervix. I had been using my breathing techniques and ‘up’ visualisations which I felt helped hugely, I also had the river dawn playing which was so good at keeping me calm and feeling in control. I felt exhausted so they gave me pethidine which helped me to relax. After a couple more hours of dozing on my left side and contracting frequently, I got up to use the toilet and suddenly realised he was coming! They checked me again and I was fully dilated so could start labouring. I used your advice about positions and tried to focus on my breathing, J breath especially helped. The best position for him making progress ended up being on my left side with my leg in the air held by my husband. Only 4 hours later and only using some gas and air my baby boy was here, a healthy 8lb and very calm. The midwives were incredible all through the birth, only coming into the room when necessary and respecting all our wishes. Harry got to cut the cord after it had drained and we had lots of skin to skin before he was weighed etc. It truly was a magical experience and I felt in control throughout.
Thank you for all your advice and teachings, I will continue to apply the relaxation techniques over the coming months.
Best wishes,
Claire, Harry and Milo x
